On the other hand, I'm getting sick of cheap Chinese-made crap. We can't import our way into prosperity. Yes, I appreciate that Walmart, by-in-large provides better access to merchandise in greatly under-served rural communities. I just wish they'd source more of their merchandise from US vendors.
I went to a Walmart last week (in south Florida) to buy some groceries. When I got home, I looked at the bag of garlic I purchased, and on the label were the words, "product of China". Walmart can't find a US supplier for fresh garlic?
Thank Cesar Chavez.
Go to any grocery store and check out what it says on a carton of Mott’s Apple Juice.
It's not like cheap Chinese-made crap isn't already available in Brooklyn. Local vendors can just sell it to the local poor at a higher markup when there's no Wal-Mart around who sells it for a cost that's closer to its actual value.
Price Chopper’s garlic is “product of China” too. I just grow my own.
I don't get the singling out of Walmart. Every other retailer carries the same amount (or more) of Chinese (and other) imports. My local grocery chains also carry Chinese garlic. The reason is simple - even if the garlic is $0.10 cheaper, that's $0.10 straight to the bottom line - nothing to sniff at in a sector where the most efficient operators make $0.02 per $1 of sales. We're not importing our way to poverty - the reason we're wealthy and they're poor is simple - we design iPods and they use screwdrivers to assemble them. Anybody (Chinese, Bangladeshi, Egyptian or Nigerian) can assemble an iPod - it's designing it that makes the US a wealthy country. If we ever get into a situation where the Chinese are designing iPods and we're assembling them, we're going to be ones with Third World living standards.